Archaeological Object

About

Archaeological objects are things people made and used that were later recovered from the ground, from tombs, shipwrecks or ruined buildings: pottery, figurines, tools, jewellery, coins, seals and fragments of larger works. Many were never meant as art, yet they are often the only surviving evidence of how a society looked, traded and worshipped.

Their meaning depends on context. Where a piece lay, in which layer and beside what, tells archaeologists more than the piece alone, which is why finds such as the Sutton Hoo ship burial (excavated 1939) or the terracotta army near Xi'an (discovered 1974) were recorded so carefully. Surfaces carry history too: mineral crusts, green corrosion on bronze, a rainbow sheen on ancient glass, old breaks and later repairs. Since the UNESCO convention of 1970 on illicit trafficking, a documented ownership history has been central to the ethical study and display of antiquities.